☃️ COIE Fall 2025 Impact & What's Coming Up in 2026!
Centre of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (COIE)
Fostering a sustainable entrepreneurial mindset and actionable lifelong skills™️
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Dear changemakers,
Happy Holidays! ❄️ Thank you for being part of an amazing year at the Centre of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (COIE). As we look back, none of what we achieved would have been possible without your energy, ideas, and commitment. In this newsletter, we're reflecting on our impact in Fall 2025 and looking forward to even more events and opportunities next semester.
Explore what's ahead in 2026 below! 🤩
COIE's flagship event returns in-person: Global Goals Jam Canada Winter 2026
📢 Calling changemakers, developers, designers, engineers, strategists, all enthusiasts to design impactful solutions for global challenges on March 3, 2026, in-person at Centennial College!
COIE Flagship Event
Global Goals Jam Canada: Winter 2026
📅 Tuesday, March 3, 8am-6pm 📍 8th Floor, Event Center, Progress Campus, Centennial College 🍽️ Breakfast, lunch and refreshments provided
COIE's most anticipated event is back — and in-person for the first time!
🌎🌱 Do you have a passion for solving social challenges to improve lives? Do you want to be part of an engaging design jam, developing innovative solutions to advance the Sustainable Development Goals? Join us for COIE's 11th Global Goals Jam on Tuesday, March 3rd (during Engagement Week) for a full and exciting day of purposeful fun, changemaking, and a chance to win awards* totalling $4500! 🙌
COIE's Global Goals Jam Canada Winter 2025 virtual SDG challenge weekend
*Awards are generously supported by philanthropist Diane Blake. Prize money is shared amongst winning team members and sent via e-gift cards.
COIE's Fall 2025 Impact: This semester, 20 Student Ambassadors engaged with COIE through a hybrid model, with 50% gaining in-person experience in VR Studio, pitch competitions, startup projects, and 3D design, while connecting with founders and VCs. One student secured task-based startup work experience, and one alumni venture was featured in the Toronto Sun.
💼 Access startup jobs (This is an unpaid volunteer role, with priority access to jobs, application support, and early hiring updates.)
📄 Get referrals & recommendations
🎁 Plus: Exclusive swag bag!
🔗Application will close on Monday, January 12, at 11:59 PM
All W26 Student Ambassadors are encouraged to attend COIE's In-Person Information Session on January 20 at Progress Campus' Event Centre (8th Floor), as an onboarding meeting.
The Changemaker Mindset Series brings inspiring changemakers from our community to share how ways of thinking can shape impact — and how cultivating an entrepreneurial spirit can drive positive change. Each session highlights practical tools and powerful stories that help you reframe challenges, spark creativity, and take meaningful action in your studies, career, and community. 🧠✨
Coming up next: Innovation Starts with Mindset
Discover how an innovative mindset empowers changemakers across careers, startups, and everyday life!
🗓️ February 3, 11:30am-1pm 📍 8th Floor Event Centre, Progress Campus ☕️ Light refreshments provided
COIE's Fall 2025 Impact: In Fall 2025, we delivered our first Changemaker Mindset Series workshop virtually to nearly 30 students, learning about how to incorporate design thinking into sustainability while applying a martial arts-inspired mindset. We can't wait to bring you more sessions this upcoming Winter 2026 semester!
Immersive Innovation Lab in W26
The Immersive Innovation Lab's VR Studios are designed to help students build confidence and real-world communication skills across multiple contexts such as pitching, interviewing, and public speaking. Combining web-based and immersive virtual reality (VR) simulations, participants practice in realistic scenarios with simulated audiences and receive real-time AI-powered feedback, Q&A interactions, and expert-led guidance.
COIE's Fall 2025 Impact: Across three cohorts (Summer–Fall 2025), we delivered 60+ hours of immersive VR training to ~50 students, strengthening their confidence, communication, and pitching skills through AI-powered feedback and mentorship. We've redesigned our Winter 2026 sessions for an even more impact-focused experience: see below for our upcoming cohorts! 👇
VR Start-Up Ready Studio
Practice confident startup pitches in immersive VR environments with real-time feedback!
Next semester, COIE is bringing back a full lineup of entrepreneurial workshops to help you start, validate and grow your business! 🙌
We are also introducing a new workshop format - "Mindset Minutes" - where instead of lecture-style presentations, we will facilitate short, 30–45 minute talk-show style sessions with change-makers and thought leaders.
COIE Fall 2025 Impact: This semester, we delivered sixworkshops that informed, inspired, and provided real-time consultation – including sessions in four new series: Teach for Change, Side Hustle, Book Club and Changemaker Mindset.
COIE Demo Day is coming back! 🎤
🌟 We're bringing Demo Day back on March 31 with our All-Star Pitch Competition — stay tuned for more details!
COIE's Fall 2025 Impact: On November 25, 2025, COIE successfully hosted its first Fall 2025 Demo Day, welcoming ~60 attendees, featuring 16 pitch presenters, 12 startup booths, 6 judges, and participation from a venture capitalist and two ecosystem partners—creating a supportive, high-impact platform for early-stage founders.
Coursera for Careers: an exclusive opportunity to boost your employability💡
📚 Receive a FREE 3-month Coursera License!
Through Coursera for Careers, Centennial College students, faculty, staff, alumni and COIE participants can receive a free Coursera license (normally a $60-80/month subscription!) for 3 months to develop in-demand skills and earn Professional Certificates from industry leaders such as Google, IBM, Meta, and Microsoft.
📣 Special offer: Refer 3 friends and extend your free access until March 2026! Have you joined yet? Don’t miss out!
🤝 COIE is now an official partner of this pitch competition.
The Arena Pitch Competition
Open to any Centennial College students currently studying at or recently graduated (within one year of graduation), who is the owner or part-owner of the business idea, to win part of a $17,000 prize fund.
Explore entrepreneurship as an alternative career path in this virtual 10-week program designed for university and college students. Gain insights into the commercial potential of your academic research and develop a new way of thinking—one that connects innovation to real-world problems.
OCI brings together industry, academic, and government partners to invest in collaborative R&D, technology development, and commercialization opportunities that deliver the highest return on innovation for Ontarians.
What's next? We’re inviting our Winter 2026 Student Ambassadors to become Section Editors for the Buzzword Breakdown series. Love storytelling and bold ideas? This is your chance to shape how our community learns.
As graduation approaches, one question shapes what comes next: How can your communication work on your behalf—consistently and confidently? This one-hour Book Club session explores The Brand Gap by Marty Neumeier, focusing on clarity, first impressions, and how you show up in early professional interactions.
📅 Tues, Jan 28 | 5-6PM 📍Virtual (Microsoft Teams)
Graduated recently? Don’t miss out on future updates, opportunities, and events from Centennial Innovates. Ensure you update your emailso we can keep in touch after you leave campus!
Fostering a sustainable entrepreneurial mindset and actionable lifelong skills™️
Stay in the Loop with COIE! ✨ Sign up to receive the latest news on exciting entrepreneurial events, hands-on workshops, inspiring stories, and more—delivered straight to your inbox.Thanks for joining our community!
